Collectible card game. The original and best-known one is Magic: The Gathering.

Criticized by some since greater success in gameplay could be gained simply by spending more money to buy whole cartons of "booster packs" of cards, increasing the probability of getting more powerful cards, and so linking success to economic resources. (This is mitigated in [some?] tournaments where players are provided with and restricted to using a sealed "starter deck" and a set number of sealed "booster packs.")

There were CCGs based on sf and fantasy TV series, movies, and books including Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Some, based on TV series such as Babylon 5 and Xena: Warrior Princess, tended to rapidly wane in popularity after the series ended.

Cards were also collected by some fen for the artwork, which was sometimes done by well-known genre artists.

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